Hey there, new teacher, and welcome! Right now, you are probably feeling so many different emotions and have tons of questions. My goal is to help answer some of those questions with this mini-survival tip kit and help make you feel more confident in getting started in this amazing career! Now, I said amazing, not easy! The first piece of advice I want to share is to NOT try to do everything perfectly this year. It took me many years to realize that “Done is better than perfect.” There are SO many different aspects of teaching, that it’s impossible to be an expert in all areas, especially when starting out, especially on the elementary level, and ESPECIALLY with the added unknown factors of Covid and distance-learning. One of the most important things to do is to stay organized, as it’ll help you work smarter (not harder!). So, in an effort to be efficient, I’ve organized this post into the following ... read more
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Tips for Commonly-Confused Sight Words
The other day, I was watching the movie Molly's Game and said to my husband, "Wow, that's a very different role from the one she played in Jurassic World!" "That's a different actress," he replied. "No way!" I argued. Of course, he was right when we Googled it. Besides the fact that Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard are both drop-dead gorgeous, they also share very similar features (supposedly, even Ron Howard mistook Chastain for his own daughter)! Well, this reminded me of how some words can be super tricky for kids because of how similar they are, too! Take a look at some "doppelganger" words: for, from no, on me, my saw, was These words may be easy for us to read but, for beginning readers, their similarities make them extra tricky! If you have students who consistently mistake 2 words no matter what you've tried, here are some tips that may help! Tips ... read more
How to Create Your own Sensory Path
It can be hard to keep kids away from screens active during this lock-down. Kids thrive with movement, so one way to encourage your students- or your own children- to move is to create an obstacle course, or a sensory path. What is a sensory path? Sensory paths are paths on the floor that have activities for children to interact with as they move along the path. Jumping, spinning, stomping, and clapping are a few of the multitude of activities that can be included in a sensory path. They are a great tool for getting kids moving, playing, and learning while building sensory connections in the brain! There are tons of benefits of sensory paths, including relieving stress/ coping with emotions, helping with refocusing, physical exercise, coordination, and they’re just FUN! I have seen sensory paths before, using paint and tape to mark the floor. But, I saw Mrs. O of @playfulclassroom on Instagram make hers with chalk and knew ... read more
Digital Resources for Distance Learning
2020 has definitely changed how we teach! Whether you love distance learning or not so much, some aspects of it are sure to stay- whether it's more digital resources, online availability, video lessons, or assignments. So, I've created some resources with you in mind, and hope they will help to add a spark to your digital teaching, whether it's via distance learning or in the classroom! I've added them all here so they're easy to find in one place and I'll continue to add to this post as I create more. *NEWLY ADDED* Make sure to scroll through this post for freebies! Grab your FREE Virtual Meeting Rules Sort! Help students master sight words with kinesthetic learning We know sitting for a long time can be especially hard for children- unless they're playing or moving! Get them to do both to practice sight words! First, you can introduce sight words with these Body-Spelling PowerPoints. Share your screen with students, ... read more
Video Lesson Ideas and Tips for distance learning
What an unorthodox time this is! I know this is a tough time for teachers, who are having to learn new technology and adapt to teaching via video rather than in person. I know you miss your students and your classroom. Until things go back to normal, I've put together some ideas that I hope are helpful in planning for your video lessons, whether live or pre-recorded. Of course, you may not be able to do all of the ideas listed below, depending on your district's requirements, resources, and participation. But I hope that some of these are helpful for your video lessons and I'd love to hear your ideas as well. Let's help each other! I've organized this post into the following sections: Lessons and ActivitiesManagement and Organization Tips ZOOM video tipsMy resources that are helpful with distance learning (you'll also find links to other resources throughout)A FREEBIE for you! Lessons and Activities Directed Drawing: ... read more
Home-Learning Resources for Teachers and Parents
Yikes! I know I wasn’t expecting these circumstances, were you? I did take the news seriously, but it’s all happening much quicker than I anticipated. There's no need to go into what’s happening with COVID-19, as I’m sure you see enough of that on the news. Suffice it to say, it’s caught a lot of us off guard and wondering what to do to help our kids continue to learn at home. There is so much information out there, that it can be overwhelming, so I decided to share my favorites in this blog post, organized by the following categories: Free educational websites (with a summary of each)Educational kid's showsMy free resources that may helpIdeas for your own StoryTime online Further down, you’ll also find: Suggestions for making a schedule for your kidsSample schedule (mine)Free resource to make your own, including activity ideas for kids, organized by category FREE EDUCATIONAL WEBSITES Many websites are offering ... read more
Teaching About Leap Year
Do you know 1,461 people? If you do, chances are you have a friend with a Leap Year birthday! And if you didn't before, now you do! ? Yes, I am a "Leapling" and this Saturday I will be 11 years old (my daughter always gets annoyed when I say that, lol). Kids have so many questions when they find out about Leap Year! Here are a few FAQs and tips for teaching about it while having fun. What is Leap Year? Sooo, long story short, an Earth's orbit around the Sun actually takes 365 days and 6 hours. Instead of having a 6-hour day (there aren't enough hours as it is!), we "save up" those extra hours for 4 years, hence Leap Day, hence Leap Year. Explaining this to kids is a little more complex, but try this fun activity with your students to teach them about the Earth's daily rotation and yearly orbit. Role-Playing the Earth's Orbit Have kids sit in a circle, leaving the middle empty.Invite 2 kids to play the Sun and ... read more
Guided Reading Lesson Components
Guided reading is my favorite time of the day! It’s the best way to differentiate reading instruction to meet the needs of all your students. It wasn’t always my favorite, though. In fact, I used to dread it! I did not feel confident and always felt overwhelmed with planning my guided reading lessons. It takes time to get a smooth system going for effective guided reading. Over 17 years, I’ve learned how to organize and plan effective lessons to take the overwhelm out of guided reading and I hope you can get some useful tips here! Make sure you scroll down to find your freebie! What is Guided Reading? Guided Reading is a time for teachers to work with a small group of students. These small groups are made up of students who need similar reading skills and strategies. During this time, the teacher supports students in each group by providing appropriate guidance before, during, and after reading the same book. The teacher plans ... read more
5 Anchor Literacy Centers and Management Tips
I used to spend HOURS planning new literacy centers each week: making, laminating, cutting, sorting, labeling, differentiating. . . you know the drill! SO. MUCH. WORK! A few years ago, I started using 5 anchor centers almost every week. These literacy centers were perfect year-round because they provided students with choice while being easy to manage. All I had to do was switch one thing at each center and I was done. I still changed my centers to add a new or seasonal activity, but I always knew I had 5 centers ready-to-go so there was no pressure to change them. Anchor centers make your life so much easier in a few ways: Less planning timeLess prepping timeLess time going over center instructionsMore time with your small groups! What are the Anchor Centers? I'll go over each one, explaining what we did and including management tips. At the bottom of this post, you will find the links to all freebies and ... read more
Chinese New Year Activities
Going to the Chinese New Year parade in New York City had been on my to-do list for years and I finally got the chance to check it off! Last year, my family and I drove to NYC for the parade and we were not disappointed (well, except for the jacked-up parking costs)! We watched from Chatham Square (about the halfway point) as dancers, band members, politicians, and activists marched down the street to celebrate this exciting holiday. It was incredible to see the lion dancing, the dancers under it coordinating their moves seamlessly. Here's another up close. The eyes have mechanisms to make them blink. People hold the dragon up with long sticks, which they move to make the dragon "dance." And, it was the year of the pig, so there were also pigs marching! Chinese New Year in the Classroom We loved celebrating Chinese New Year in our classroom also, so let me share a few activities with you, a freebie, and ... read more